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Belgian charged with son’s murder to stay in custody in Singapore

A Belgian financial executive accused of murdering his five-year-old son in Singapore will remain in detention for another six weeks as state prosecutors await a forensics report, a district court heard Wednesday.

Philippe Graffart, 42, has been charged with the murder of his son Keryan at an upmarket condominium in October. The offence is punishable by death through hanging.

Graffart, wearing a white T-shirt and looking haggard, was connected to a district court from prison via video link during a brief pre-trial mention of his case on Wednesday.

He will next appear in court on March 23.

State prosecutors asked for six weeks for a forensics team to prepare a report and defence lawyer Ramesh Tiwary agreed.

A psychiatric assessment has been completed, the lawyer said.

The Belgian was arrested before dawn on October 6 after arriving at a police station with self-inflicted wounds. He was charged the next day.

According to local media, Graffart’s son was found strangled in his bedroom with hand-shaped bruises around his neck.

Graffart and his ex-wife were believed to be fighting over the boy’s custody at the time.

Tiwary said Graffart is currently remanded at Changi Prison but was unsure when a trial would start.

“As soon as the prosecution have all their reports, then we will sit down and study them and see how to go forward,” he said.

Graffart’s account on business networking service LinkedIn before his arrest described him as an executive director and head of fund distribution in the Asia-Pacific region for Oslo-based Nordea Investment Management.